Barbecued Chicken Pizza

This was a great meal.  The Spouse is usually not a fan of cream cheese, but in this context he loved it. 

For all the talking up I do of their sause, I'm thinking Rudy's needs to give me a commission.  But, sincerely, their sause is a must for any real BBQ.  I've not found anything that's comparable to their combination of sweet and spicy.

Rudy's BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 lb boned, skinned chicken breasts
1/3 cup Rudy's BBQ Sause
Salt and pepper
2 homemade whole wheat pizza crusts, about 8" round
1/4 cup cream cheese
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 4oz can diced green chilies
1/2 cup shredded jack cheese
hot chili flakes

Prep grill.  Rinse chicken and pat dry.  Pound chicken to 1/4" thickness. Coat with about 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill chicken until done, about 8 minutes, turning once halfawy thru. Let stand until cool enough to handle, then tear into bite-size chunks. In a small bowl, mix with remaining barbecue sauce.

Place pizza crusts on a 12- by 15-inch baking sheet. Spread each with about 2 tablespoons cream cheese. Spoon chicken in sauce evenly over both crusts; top with red onion, green chilies, red  jack cheese, and hot chili flakes.

Bake pizzas in a 400° regular or convection oven until cheese is browned and bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a board and cut into wedges.

Andouille Pizza

The combination of the roasted tomato and pepper sauce, spicy andouille and fontina cheese was exquisite! This would also be excellent grilled (it was pouring tonight).

Andouille Pizza

whole wheat pizza dough
1 cup roasted tomato and pepper sauce
1/4 lb fontina cheese, shredded
1/4 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded
6 oz andouille sausage, sliced 1/4" thick
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes

Preheat oven to 400F.

Gently sautee andouille (about 1 minute each side) to lightly cook. Roll out pizza dough. Add sauce, cheese, andouille and sun-dried tomatoes.

Bake pizza at 400F for 20 minutes or until the sausage is done and the crust is crispy.

Buffalo Chicken Calzones

I've blogged this one before but this is a slightly different rendition. The whole wheat pizza dough was a godsend find from Amber's Delectable Delights. I had just planned on picking up a pillsbury dough thing at the store but couldn't find any. This wonderful whole-wheat dough is ready in 30 minutes (mixing and resting time combined) and is going to be a staple in my kitchen. I only used half the dough from the 1 lb version and made one big calzone. I served this with Braised Swiss Chard fresh from the garden.



Buffalo Chicken Calzones

2 packages Tyson diced chicken breasts
leftover blue cheese & bacon mix from Cheesy Chicken Breasts
Frank's Hot Sauce
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
whole-wheat pizza dough

Prep the pizza dough. While dough is resting, place pizza stone in oven and preheat oven to 400F. Place chicken breast bits in a large bowl and add enough Frank's Hot sauce to coat (maybe 1/4 cup). Stir in blue cheese & bacon mixture. Set aside.

Divide dough in half and set half aside (freeze or refrigerate for later use). Roll out the remaining half into a 13" dough. Place chicken mixture on half of the dough. Top with cheddar & mozarella cheese. Carefully fold the remaining half of dough over, rolling the bottom over to seal the seam. Place on pizza stone and bake at 400F for 15 minutes or until done. Remove stone from oven and let rest 5 minutes. Cut calzone into servings and serve immediately.

Buffalo Chicken Calzones

The Spouse and I have a go-to recipe that we call Nuclear Chicken. It's one of those recipes we make whenever we don't know what else to make. We occasionally dress it up with dirty rice or things like that but, basically, it's a "I don't really want to cook" deal.

The following is basically Nuclear Chicken, only stuffed into pizza dough, covered with blue cheese and mozzarella and baked. It ends up tasting pretty much like chicken wings with blue cheese dip. I'm sure you could turn these into some sort of pizza bite for parties.

Buffalo Chicken Calzones

1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 cup Frank's Hot Sauce
paprika
cayenne pepper
Luzianne Seasoning
chili powder

1 pizza dough (we use breadsmith's whole wheat)
mozzarella cheese
blue cheese

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add butter and olive oil. Heat until butter is melted and oil is warmed. Add in chicken and cook until browned on all sides. Add in hot sauce and spices. Stir to coat. Sautee until chicken is cooked thru. Cool completely.

Preheat oven to 425.

Roll out dough, cut into quarters. Pile chicken on one side of the dough. Sprinkle with blue cheese and mozzarella cheese to taste. Seal the packets. Place on pizza stone or pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and crispy. Let sit 5 minutes. Serve.

Pizza with Peppered Shrimp, Canadian Bacon, Mushrooms and Feta Cheese

Yet another recipe from the wine lovers cookbook. I adore this thing. The cookbook has a very yummy sounding pizza dough recipe, but I didn't have the time last night to make it. Maybe next time.

Pizza with Peppered Shrimp, Canadian Bacon, Mushrooms and Feta Cheese

3/4 cup tomato sauce
2 cloves chopped roasted garlic
4 tsp chopped fresh dill (2 tsp dried)
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup diced Canadian bacon
3/4 cup sliced crimini or shiitake mushrooms
1/4 chopped roasted red peppers
2 oz crumbled feta cheese
10 large shrimp, shelled and deveined
Red pepper flakes, crushed

In a small mixing bowl, whist together tomato sauce, roasted garlic, dill, salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and lemon juice. Spread evenly on pizza crust. Top pizza with Canadian bacon, mushrooms, peppers and feta cheese. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp black pepper on to shrimp and space them evenly on pizza. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Bake pizza on the top rack of the oven for 16 to 18 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Slice into pieces and serve.